Child of a Heartless Man
by Lady Fenris
Summary: A beating heart isn't the only leverage with which to control Davy Jones, and there are other ways to free Jack Sparrow. But in order to locate these treasures, Will and his friends, will have to put their trust in an old enemy. Spoilers for DMC
1. Chapter 1

**Child of a Heartless Man** By Lady Fenris

Jack/Elizabeth/Will, Barbossa/OC

The Heart isn't the only leverage that can be used against Davy Jones, and there's more than one way to reclaim the lost Capitan Jack Sparrow. Can Elizabeth and Will trust an old enemy to find both? **(Spoilers for Dead Man's Chest)**

(I own nothing, make no money etc, I am simply borrowing the ideas and characters you may recognize, and dropping in a few that you don't...remember this is all in fun).

Chapter I

The bayou was covered with the gloomy shadows of defeat and sorrow as the weary crew rowed in from their last battle with the Kraken. Will refused to look at the girl he had loved since he was a boy. The betrayal he had witnessed was still too fresh in his eyes, but the knowledge that Jack had given his life for them was almost worse. Had he been the one to hear the news first, he may have kissed Jack too, well, maybe not, but even so he couldn't completely blame Elizabeth for her actions.

Sitting next to him Elizabeth was captivated by the flocks of people standing, some of them, waist deep in the swamp water with their candles of respect. The sad looks of those closest to her weighed heavily upon her heart.

The man she had ended up wanting more than her precious Will Turner, had died because of her. Getting into the long boat, she had already begun to feel that ache in her soul.

"I'm not sorry" she had told him, but she hadn't meant it, she couldn't look him in the eyes as she had said it. And when she had peered up into those dark mahogany pools, he had whispered the word, she had come to desire…

"Pirate"

Jack had been right, she had given into his darkness, she had become more like him than she would ever resemble Miss Swan again. That life was over, that girl was gone. Now there was only an empty woman who sat longing for the one man she would never have, and unable to face the man she did.

The long boat drifted towards Tia Dalma's shack, Will looked up at the seer from where she stood on her dock. She had a sad knowing look to her eyes, and at that moment Will knew there was more to the kiss than he had been witness to.

The crew settled into Tia Dalma's house with an air of exhaustion. None of them daring to speak first, each of them finding a strange comfort in the cold silence.

Gibbs braced against the doorframe, the others strewn about the small room. When the respectful toast to Jack had come up, Elizabeth found that she couldn't stomach the smell of the rum, it reminded her too closely of her lost Capitan. The tears sprang anew, her guilt and sorrow running over.

Will looked at her then, even in his jealousy he couldn't bear to see her cry,

"If there was anything that could be done to bring him back…" Will had started,

"Would you do it? Would you sail to the ends of the earth and beyond to fetch back wicked Jack and his precious Pearl?"

Tia Dalma was not one to give hope if there was none, and to that end every sailor in that dusty mystic's room had stood and pledged their sweat and blood to releasing Jack and his Black Sailed Ship from Davy Jones Locker. The how and who to lead this unlikely group of crewmen was heard descending the rickety staircase.

At the familiar steps echoing through the steps, Pintel and Ragetti perked their heads up and gave full attention, they knew those steps. The Capitan, with whom each of them had intimate knowledge of, some more than others, was standing unnaturally fit before them…a Capitan who should have been dead.

There stood, with a monkey on his shoulder and holding an apple, the black wretch of the sea: Capitan Barbossa.

"Man Alive! Don't you ever stay dead?" Gibbs was the first to break the unearthly silence.

"Hahahahaha, I'm glad to see you haven't lost your enthusiasm for the obvious Mr.Gibbs." His laugh penetrated the ears of the assembled letting them know he was still the same man he had been the last time he had been killed…"I hear you've lost your Capitan again, so where might ol' Jack be this time?"

A/N: This is my first posted story, sorry it's such a short chapter, but it's really just the introduction. Much more to come.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter II 

"Where is my ship?" Barbossa asked with an evil grin on his scarred face.

While the other inhabitants of the room grew wide-eyed he bit into his apple, letting the juices run down his chin.

"Your ship? The Black Pearl is the property of Capitan Jack Sparrow!" Elizabeth's voice cut across the cold air with a bite.

"Well technically the ship is the property of whoever happens to be the Capitan of it at the time. And as I understand it, Jack is at the bottom of Davy Jones' Locker, and the Pearl just happens to be down there with him, but as the ship has no ocean to sail nor crew to man her. So Jack has no one to be Capitan over, and as such the ship is now…up for grabs." Barbossa reasoned against Elizabeth's outburst, with a sly smile.

"But you can lead us to Jack?" Elizabeth inquired albeit a bit skeptically,

"Of course I can silly girl, but what would be in it for me if I were to accept the job?" He stroked the fur on the monkey's head, waiting for a reply.

"That's obvious, you get the Pearl, its what you want isn't it?" Elizabeth was tired and her voice carried an air of condescension.

Barbossa stalked towards Elizabeth for a few paces, now he stood over her by a head, and looked menacingly into her eyes.

"You have no idea what I want, and the Pearl is fair game to all at this point, and she isn't something you currently have in your possession to barter with, so I ask again what do I get out of this?"

"What do you want, Barbossa?" Will asked his eye's squinting slightly in curiosity.

"I want your assistance in procuring something which belongs to me, before we embark on this little adventure." He answered cryptically.

"what makes you so sure that we'll help the likes of you?" Elizabeth ventured, only slightly conscience of the frustrated gasps coming from the rest of the crew.

Mr. Gibbs, groaned and held his hand to his forehead, as Ragetti leaned over to ask him if they could just gag and bind her until the deal was made. At that moment Gibbs was very tempted to do just that.

'Well child, if you don't help me, you'll never be able to find Jack Sparrow on your own, nor will you be able to release him from his watery tomb. You'll help me, because you have to, understand?"

Before Elizabeth could answer Will and Mr. Gibbs piped up with an exuberant,

"We have a deal!"

Barbossa smiled broadly and shook Will's hand on the bargain.

"So Capitan, where are we going?" Mr. Gibbs was happy to have a resemblance of a plan, well anything really, before Elizabeth could start talking again.

"We're going to go borrow a ship lads…and lady."

"Borrow? Does that mean commandeer?" Ragetti asked

"No, it means borrow, without the owner knowing." Barbossa clarified.

As the others started pulling their things together and heading out the door, Tia Dalma grabbed Will's wrist and pulled him back slightly.

"You watch out, your girlie has one or do' secret's bout her, she don watch herself, she end up dead. An' take this, it'll help." Tia Dalma slipped a small black pouch into Wills coat pocket, and gently pushed him out the door.

The crew walked stoically behind Barbossa who seemed to be walking purposefully into the bayou swamp. This wasn't a journey the locals took in the daytime, for it was said that the surrounding swamps around Tia Dalma's hut were haunted by the worst beasties that were tapped between earth and sea. Ragetti and Pintel crowded close to each other for added security, and Will kept Elizabeth in front of him at all times. His mind still coping with what he saw aboard the Black Pearl, and the words Tia Dalma had just spoken to him, he wanted Elizabeth where he could see her.

Barbossa up ahead was walking like a gentleman on the English moors, a twinkle in his eye, and breathing deep, as though savoring a floral breeze. The breeze was flowering alright, but not with heather or daisies, with the sulfur bogs creeping around them in the dank and sour mud.

When the first hues of dawn were creeping into the dense fog, Barbossa and the crew had come across the local fishing dock. There were no ships to speak of, just a few fishing boats, which looked to hold about ten men at most.

Barbossa looked to the assembled crew with a simple smile on his face.

"Not what most of you are used to, but as there are no ocean vessels to be had here, we'll make the best of what we can get. So get in the white one, and we'll be off."

The men looked at each other with unsure eyes, and confused thoughts, but did as their new Capitan instructed. The 'white one' turned out to be called The White Clam, not very original but for a fishers vessel it didn't need to be.

Upon landing on the deck, a very stout fisherman came up from below, with a scowl,

"What in tarnation are you doin' on my boat, get off the lot of you, get off or I'll alert the dock master-"

The fisherman stopped suddenly as his nose came into contact with Barossa's pistol, which guided him to the plank ladder and than the to the dock.

"Thank ye, sir, for such a fine boat." Barbossa stated. A fake smile gracing his face, as the fisherman cast off the line and then promptly pissed himself.

"Was that truly necessary?" Elizabeth asked.

Barbossa merely graced her words with a sneer and then went to the meager helm to direct Gibbs to their destination.

… …. ….. ……

"Mr.Gibbs, if you would be so kind as to direct us due south."

"How far south will we be going sir?" The words stuck in his throat as he started to get an inkling where Barbossa was headed.

"As far as a stone goes to settle on the ocean floor." The Capitan whispered, aware that Mr. Gibbs had no illusions about the eventual destination.

"In that case Capitan, shouldn't we make port to stock up on warmer clothing?" Mr. Gibbs had paled, and was hoping for all he was worth, that Barbossa agreed. Gods help them if he let his own immortality stand in the mortal way of others.

"I think that can be arranged. There's a Whaling town about 20 leagues from here, that will be our stop." Barbossa paused, close to Mr. Gibbs ear to whisper something that made the man turn grey and nod once, before moving off to inspect the nature of their transportation.

"Gibbs? What is it, where are we going?"

It was Will, Gibbs mopped his brow feigning exhaustion, before replying,

"Oh it's nothing, nothing, we're going to Whaling Port for supplies, then on from there."

Will noticed that Gibbs lips were set in a firm line and that his eyes were staring strait ahead at the sea, in clear avoidance with his own. Something was very off here, but Will didn't push the man, a couple of bottles of rum would tell Will all he wanted to know, and probably some he didn't, he just needed his opportunity.

Elizabeth meanwhile watched Barbossa like a hawk, she had been in this man's company before, and had found it truly abhorrent, she quietly wondered with a giggle whether the man knew what soap was?

Her girlish musings were interrupted by Ragetti pushing a scrub brush and pail into her empty hands,

"Idle hands make lousy sailors." He said in a singsong voice.

Grinning simply he went on with whatever he was doing and Elizabeth scowled at him but decided since there wasn't much else to do she might as well help get rid of the dead fish smell.

The work was simple, and it allowed Elizabeth to escape the sounds of men to contemplate her feelings about Jack Sparrow.

She had kissed him, not just kissed him, but KISSED him; in a way she had never dared with Will. It had been fierce, and passionate, and a wee bit desperate, and Elizabeth had felt a change occur within her. The change wasn't in regards to Will, no she still loved him, but she now wondered if it was possible to love another just as strongly, was there room in the human heart for the love of two?

She scrubbed furiously at the deck, oblivious that she had been scrubbing the same spot for the past ten minutes.

"Hey, girl!" Ragetti called over to her.

"What now? I'm scrubbing aren't I?" Elizabeth scowled at him.

"Yeah but I meant for you to scrub in more than one spot, at this rate you'll scrub all the way down to the kneel!"

"Oh, why you!" Frustration and embarrassment taking over, she chucked the scrub brush at his head.

It was a direct shot and the force of the impact caused Ragetti's wooden eye to fall out of his socket and roll across the floor. Elizabeth chuckled in ultimate amusement at the sight of Ragetti scrambling after it lest it fall over board.

Barbossa observed the interaction with a sigh,

"This is going to be a long trip." He muttered to himself, before returning his gaze to the horizon.


	3. Chapter 3

Child of A Heartless Man Chapter III:

The next morning's sun rose hidden behind heavy luminous clouds which cast cold blustery shadows on the harbor of Whaling Port. The small and isolated community looked unwelcoming and depressed in the dreary light of this day's dawn.

Elizabeth looked on the port with disgust and weary sleep deprived eyes. Will stood behind her and wrapped her in his warmth, but she still shook slightly.

Barbossa was no where to be seen, but Gibbs stood at the port side railing gesturing to the dock hand, to catch the rope and secure their line. As the meager crew stepped off the White Clam Gibbs handed them each a small piece of paper, and an even smaller sachet of silver.

"if ye don't come back with what's on that list you'll not leave this port til' we get back." Under his breath, only loud enough for Will to hear, " Gods knows when that'll be."

The crew made faces of annoyance and some in confusion, but dutifully went their assigned ways to procure whatever was depicted on their papers.

Will and Elizabeth went with Gibbs, to the Trader's Alley, a convergence market for all types of tradesmen to barter their wares to the public. Will looked down at his list,

"Fur coats, ice picks, thick hide boots, salt? Gibbs where are we going to if we need all of this stuff?" Will whispered fiercely to his friend, tying not arose Elizabeth's suspicions.

"I can't tell you Will, but if we want to get out of this intact, we will definitely be needing everything on that list." He answered firmly.

"And you really think that the others will be as responsible in their tasks?"

"Not really, but that's the point, everything we can't do without, we are procuring, everything else, well that's just fluff."

Will smirked at him, and reached behind him to take Elizabeth's hand.

Hours drifted by, and the inquisitive sailors returned to their small vessel with an apprehensive stride.

The items the others had procured were already stowed away when Gibbs and the two gentry returned. Gibbs put down his sizable pack next to the Captain, and started to hand out thick winter coats to the lot of them.

"What we need these for?" Pintel asked Barbossa.

"Well if you don't want it, give it back." Barbossa answered with a click of his tongue.

"That's okay I'll just keep it with me then." The stout man had enough sense not to push the matter.

Elizabeth took a seal pelt coat from the top of the pile and slung its arms around her slick little waist. There was no point in sweating now and giving the others an opportunity to take the better coat from her grasp.

Will had climbed up to the top of the main sail and was now perched like a crow gazing down at the others. The others were taking the supplies down into the holding area, while Gibbs and Ragetti maneuvered there way out of the harbor and again onto the open sea.

The wind was warm and brisk, and there were no clouds to be seen. Ahh it was a fine day for sailing into unknown waters. Will shook his head, and rubbed his parched skin free of the dust and grime. When he looked downward again he caught a wry smile of Barbossa smirking up at him.

Where is he leading us?

What could he possibly need that he doesn't already have?

And how in all of gully weather did he survive? That shot from Jack's pistol had hit him squarely enough.

Barbossa's smile grew wider as he watched Will's questions form over the younger man's face. No doubt he was wondering how he had survived, yet Barbossa himself had been wondering that same question.

He remembered the pain of Jack's bullet, and the cold overtake him as if his heart had been plunged into ice water. The black had clouded over his eyes and he had sunk into the mire of death with a feeling of abandonment.

But he had awoken, healed, and same as he had always been, except now the curse was lifted and he could taste his beloved apples again. What had saved him? There was only one possibility, but he was a daft man for believing it.

Still he had to know…the truth, from her lips.

And so he had agreed to this mad journey, if only he could face her again and know if the impossible was true.

He hung his head and sighed, he was tired after all these years at sea, tired of the bleakness, and uncertainty. Even the occasional slaughter hadn't been enough to revive him from that brief walk he had had with Death.

Elizabeth watched Barbossa, trying to figure out what his game was, but Gibbs interrupted her thoughts,

"You'll never figure him out Lizzy, he's a harder nut to crack than ol' Jack could ever hope to be."

"You know where we're going." It wasn't a question.  
"Aye, I know."

Before she could interrogate him further he walked past her and took the helm once more.

That night while the others were a bed, the warm air of the southern sea vanished, leaving a thick coating of salty ice covering the deck of the small vessel. Gibbs had been up all night and when Will arrived at dawn to relieve him, he was surprised that his hands hadn't frozen to the wheel.

Gibbs hauled himself off to broth, rum and bed, instructing Will to keep heading south/

"Will we get where we're going today?" Will inquired casually.  
"Depends" Gibbs chattered in the stiff morning air.  
"What am I looking for, if we do?" Will asked urgently.

"If we get there, they'll be no mistaking the sight of it." Gibbs muttered before taking his leave of the youngin'.

Barbossa was waiting for Gibbs just below the stairs, but he didn't speak until Gibbs had passed him.

"That one is just as nosy as Bootstrap was, mm, sorry, is."  
"He's a good man, they both are."  
"Maybe, but also foolish." Barbossa added.

"Aren't we all?" Gibbs was dead on his feet and in no shape for a further discussion.

A/N: Sorry for the incredibly long delay, this story is now an Alternative Universe ending alternative to At World's End. Thanks to my beautiful betas, and my faithful readers. Please review!


	4. Chapter 4

Child of a Heartless Man Chapter IV:

The dawn was long off still, yet the sky was a brilliant cyan and Prussian blue. A slight smattering of stars still doted the darkest parts of oblivion, acting as the last shards of hope for the mysterious travelers below.

Elizabeth stirred in the bunk she had fashioned from one of the few bare corners of the boat. Cornered against the pillowed sack of sea salt, she had managed a few meek hours of rest. Now a soft, high-pitched moaning disturbed her quiet.

She raised her head and looked around the room. None of the others stirred, and she wondered if she had imagined the soft calling. But a new wave of eerie sounds from above deck caught her attention. She rose and pulled on her boots. Not knowing what to expect she took her belt blade with her.

She saw Gibbs walking towards her, and as a much loader shrill moan swept across the sailor's ears, he stopped dead.

Gibbs' eyes widened,

"It can't be," he murmured.

Elizabeth scrutinized Gibbs before asking,

"What is that horrible sound?"

Gibbs seemed thoughtful for a moment.

"Who have you betrayed?" he hissed.

Elizabeth started, how had he known? What do I say? He'd kill me if he knew.

"What?"

"You heard me!"

"What does that have to do with that racket?"

"Why Miss Elizabeth, only betrayers can hear them sing. I must admit that I am curious to know what a proper young lady like yourself has to hide?"

Elizabeth swung around to face Barbossa as he crept out of the shadows beneath the stairs, his scared faced coming creepily into view in the soft light. This interruption had given her time to formulate an answer. However the silver eyed captian had brushed by them making his way back up to the deck, before she could muster any words. Suddenly angry that he had been so rude, Elizabeth took the steps two at a time to follow him, unaware that Will was watching her closely.

"I betrayed my father and Commodore Norirngton in giving my hand to Will" she said defiantly.

Barbossa squinted at her as if he didn't really buy into her story.

"How trite."

"Well since she has answered your question Mr. Gibbs, perhaps you should answer hers?" Barbossa languished elegantly against the far railing.

Whilst the three of them eyed each other, trying to figure out where the lie was, Will conemplated the woman he loved..

He had known her for a very long time, and he had watched her since the day they had met. Overall he knew every nuance of her behavior, and while it didn't happen often, he knew better than she did when she was lying. She hadn't given a strait lie just then. True it hadn't been Governor Swan's first idea that they should be wed to each other, but in light of his daughter's devotion towards him, he had given his consent. Norington had given her up as she did not love him, but to say that she had betrayed them was exaggerating the circumstances. What he couldn't quite figure out was why she had lied. Not for the first time he wondered what was so terrible that she would hide it from him? The others he could understand, but why wouldn't she tell him?

It must have to do with Jack…Of course! The kiss. She hadn't wanted to say that she had betrayed him with the kiss he'd seen between them. That had to be it. Yet there was a noise in the back of his conscious that had Tia Dalma's voice, telling him that he was still missing something.

Will continued to stare at Elizabeth's profile as she turned away from him. He himself couldn't hear what had her paler than a fish belly, but it must have been terrible judging by the tight expression on Gibbs face.

"What we miserable souls are listening to is the cry of the Black Siren. A creature that sings a horrible rasp that speaks to the heart of a resenting betrayer. It is said her cry lures the guilty to her, so that she may devour them."

"But the sound is so horrid why would anyone seek it out?"

As Elizabeth spoke, the shrill tones far to the West, became sweeter, but lost none of their mournful quality.

"The sound changes to whatever will influence or hypnotize the listener best. But mind, the worse your guilt, the more the lure will affect you. Some en have gone mad listening to it, unable to heed it's call." Gibbs spoke with clenched teeth.

"I wouldn't worry mates, the Black Siren is contained and isolated on a reefed island, we'll be past it in mere number of hours." Barbossa chimed in a singsong voice.

Elizabeth shut her eyes tight and raised her hands to cover her ears. However the action just made the sorrowful song resonate all the more heavily in her being. She could hear the lullaby that her mother sang when she was only a baby. She felt as she did the day her heart was first tormented by Will Turner, when he wouldn't kiss her behind her Father's house at fourteen. Lonely, discarded and as if her world were an endless hole of her own making; A punishment for the wrong she had done to a man she…loved. Was love truly the right word? Cared for deeply to be sure, but could she have loved him if she had let him die?

She opened her eyes to see Will giving her a knowing look. Did he know? She couldn't bear it if he knew why she was tortured so by the echoing sadness. Abruptly she turned and stalked to the bow of the vessel, the furthest she could be from his compassionate eyes.

What would he do if he knew? Would he hate her? Despise her?

Leave her?

The notes of the Siren had dropped in octave and were now a low murmur of trills and musical moans that seemed ripped from her very soul. The blackness inside her was spiraling up to meet her, and she felt tears run down her face. She bent over the railing, gripping it so tightly that her knuckled were white.

Light steps that trotted with glee, signaled Barbossa's arrival.

"You want to know why it effects you so heavily, yet Mr. Gibbs tolerates it so well?"

Not waiting for a reply he continued to taunt her,

"Because he confessed his guilt and betrayal, and judging by the state of your hands, I'm willing to bet you have yet to do so…truthfully."

Barbossa raised a hand to seek out the silky threads of hair that Elizabeth's braid could not trap. As he wound his bony fingers through her locks, giving then a playful tug he teased her in her agony.

"What could possibly be torturing you into such a ruined state? Could it have anything to do with our beloved Jack?"

Elizabeth went very still, but she didn't need to answer.

"Oh-ho, and does your young Mr. Turner know about this little indiscression? I bet he doesn't, or he might not be so concerned over your welfare."

"What do you want?" Elizabeth said darkly.

"I want to know how it's possible that the famous self serving Jack Sparrow stayed aboard a doomed vessel, and you managed to escape into a life boat in just the knick of time? Oh you didn't think I'd put two and two together did ya?"

Elizabeth held her breath but stayed quiet.

"Now I've been rolling it over and over in my mind, and there's only two things that could have happened, either he sacrificed himself like you say, or you sacrificed him. Jack Sparrow doesn't love to the degree where his life would be discarded for another's, but I don't see you as the killing type Miss Swan. So what do I want?

"I merely want to know if I'm right about you."

"Captain Barbossa? There are things on this sea worth dying for that have nothing to do with wealth." She replied in her calmest voice, given the circumstances.

"There are indeed Miss Swan, there are indeed."

Elizabeth was surprised when Barbossa's last sentence hadn't come out in his classic condescending turn of phrase. Instead his voice was steady and genuine with sincerity. She blinked and turned her head to him, only to find herself once again alone.

How did he do that?


	5. Chapter 5

Child of A Heartless Man Chapter V:

In the first hours of dawn, Cotton and his parrot stood still as the single mast behind them and saw cresting on the horizon something their weathered eyes had never seen upon the water nor in the sky. A deep purple mist lingered along the seam between the sea and the air, and behind it rested the sun, but today the sun rose as deep and red as a bloodied skull. A sun that rose as red as he saw it rising before him, bore the omen of a storm coming harsh and fast. Although in this icy wonderland of glaciers and freezing temperatures Cotton had a sneaking suspicion that whatever came after such a sunrise bode ill for all who might seek it.

Cotton's parrot bobbed his head in agreement with his master's thoughts and croaked and garbled as he fluttered his wings on his shoulder.

The small stunted steps announcing Marti's approach made Cotton turn. He looked down at the small man and shoved a crate in his direction with his foot. Marti grunted as he climbed up and turned his head to the horrible colors rising in the east.

"That can't be good?" Marti muttered.

Cotton nodded his head, and his bird answered,

"We be doomed, we be doomed." He croaked.

"I think he has a point." Marti returned.

"Aye, he has a point alright, doomed we are if we fail the test." Gibbs said from behind them.

"What's the test?" Will hollered from his place at the helm.

"Lads, yer about to find out!" Barbossa called from the top of his cabin stair.

As he spoke the purple mass that had been gently swirling on the far reaches of the horizon grew enormous and began a stealthy advance toward their location. Within moments the entire vastness of the sky was covered in black clouds that rumbled with thunder and crackled with amber lightning that threaded across the underbelly of the thunderheads like broken glass.

The thunder that bellowed within the dark clouds made their hearts still in their chests. Then suddenly, as the waters rose around their small vessel, and the wind bore down sharply against their sails, Barbossa shouted his orders to his still shocked crew.

"Hard to starboard! Bring down the sails and rope them tight! Wait for my signal before we brave this wind. All hands to the deck if we want to live through this!" He bellowed.

Elizabeth had come up to the deck when the first of the thunder bolts woke her from a restless sleep. Her ears were aching from the clamorous rumbling, and the unexpected tilt of the ship made her fall hard against the stairs as she answered the captain's call.

"What's all this?!"

"No time for talkin' girly, get yer pretty behind a movin!" he snapped at her.

"Elizabeth!" Will called to her, as he threw her a life line.

She caught it and immediately wrapped her torso in the rope loop. Just as she was finishing the cinch knot, the first of the tallest waves Elizabeth had ever imagined was crashing down on top of them. She tried to catch her breath before the water tried to drown her, but it mattered not. The force of the waves pushed what little air she had from her lungs and sent her sprawling against the ice covered deck.

She felt her light frame being swashed harshly against the aging surface, and she blindly reached for something to hold onto. Her hands fought the water and the slippery edges of the frozen wood until she was able to grab hold of a bit of railing. The fishing boat tipped again to the port side to relieve itself of the water it had taken on, and Elizabeth watched her fellow sailors hang onto their life lines for all they were worth.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw Marti come loose from his line and start to slip towards the unforgiving depths of the sea.

"WILL!!! Save Marti!" she screamed helplessly against the raging storm.

Will shook his wet hair from his eyes, and blinked the icy salt form their lids. He threw out his leg from where he was clinging to the helm. Marti was sliding right by him, but managed to grab hold of Will's boot and pull himself under the larger man, until most of him was blocked by Will's frame.

The others were holding onto the mast, or other portions of the railing, and all were looking around for their captain.

Far in front of them all, with one hand holding onto the mainmast line, with one foot balancing precariously on the bowsprit, with his head turned toward the red sun still sitting squarely on the horizon, was Captian Barbossa laughing wickedly into the wind.

"He's crazy!" Will shouted to Marti,

"As if we didn't know that before!?" he shouted back, although it was doubtful that Will could hear him for all his effort.

Another tall wave of the upstarted typhoon was coming down around their heads when all of the crew heard the captain yell with all his might into the wind…

"HOIST THE SAILS!"

Gibbs and Cotton were able to move first, and reached the main mast before the water crushed them once more against the deck. Will and Marti stayed put until they could breath air once more. Will grabbed hold of Marti's collar, and pulled him along side with him as they made their way to Gibbs and Cotton's side.

Elizabeth on the other hand, hadn't moved from her station alongside the railing, and as it turned out that was where she was needed.

Pitel and Ragetti had been flushed overboard by the last onslaught of water, and she was the only one in reach of their dangling position over the side of the ship. She lunged for Pitel's gangly arm, which she caught with hr strong fingers and pulled their end of the jackline until both men were once more aboard the near safety of the ship.

Turning back to the main mast where the others were congregating, they dragged themselves along the half frozen stretch of rope and began to pull the main sail up the mast.

"Pull with all yer might if ye want to make it through this breathing air!" Barbossa yelled to them over his shoulder.

He was still at the front, resting his gait on the bowsprit and screaming obscenities into the wind.

"This all ya got you spineless….where's the fireworks now you tawny piece of …." He was shouting even though he was sure to be horse soon.

Elizabeth felt her hands split open against the coarse fibers of the thick rope, but the adrenaline in her veins drove her past the pain and the sting of salt as she forced her burning arms to continue the hard pull to get the sail in the air.

The others were heaving and grunting along with her, until the dirty and torn sail was at last taunt and catching the bitter cold wind in its lungs.

As the sail snapped and flurried with triumph against the haunted air, miraculously as quickly as the storm had begun, it was over, and the darkness in the sky had cleared to reveal a calm and crystal blue sky.

Gibbs and Ragetti knotted the sail in place and promptly heaved forward gasping for the air they had been sure they would never breath again.

Barbossa meanwhile was hopping lightly down from the bowsprit and almost skipping towards their exhausted positions.

"Well done, now brace yourselves for the fight!"

All eyes were now looking at him as though he had reached a new level of madness.

Even Gibbs, who had been less than shocked or surprised for the whole of the journey was looking at him as if he would rather have died a few minutes ago then fight in any sort of way.

"What makes you think that any of us are in condition enough to hold our own in a fight?" Will accused.

"Well Mr. Turner, if you still want to get your former-no-good-hopeless-wreck-of-a-captain back from the depths, you agreed to help me fetch something of mine before we get there. And I'll tell you right now, and I think Gibbs will agree with me, that without this thing that I need to procure, we won't have a flying rat's ass in hell chance of freeing either Jack or the Pearl, am I correct in my assumptions Mr. Gibbs?" he exalted.

"Yeah, that's about right sir." Gibbs conceded.

"So, you and what's remained of the Pearl's fine crew will now draw your swords, because if you don't, you'll die, and all that work, will have been for nought," he paused as he looked at Elizabeth," you too missy, there's no room for damsels in distress in this layer of hell." He laughed.

Elizabeth scowled at him, and spun on her heal before marching swiftly below deck. She emerged minutes later with their swords, and a number of short pistols in her arms. Without saying anything she tossed a sword to every man on deck except the captain, and tossed Will the other pistol that wasn't secured in her belt.

Barbossa smirked at her scowl and nodded once in her direction before turning his back to the crew and returning his focus to the brightening horizon.

"Prepare yourselves lads." Was all he said.

"For what?" Will whispered.

"The Dawn's Blood."

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A/N: I apologize profusely for the extremely long delay between chapters. However in my own defense I became enamored in another story and sort of needed a break from scheming Pirates...Am I forgiven if I promise to update soon?

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